She was just 20 when she completed The Tour Of Life with three dates at what was then called the Hammersmith Odeon.

The gigs came after she topped the charts with Wuthering Heights and became the first woman to go to number one singing one of her own songs.

A statement on her website said preparations for the tour were going "very well indeed".

During a rare interview with Mojo magazine in 2011 Bush said her decades of absence from performing live and was due to the exertion of gigging.

She said: "It was enormously enjoyable. But physically it was absolutely exhausting.

"I still don't give up hope completely that I'll be able to do some live work, but it's certainly not in the picture at the moment because I just don't quite know how that would work with how my life is now."

David Bowie had been tipped to perform alongside Kate Bush at the Hammersmith Apollo [AP]

She has been out of the public spotlight for long periods as she has brought up her son Bertie.

Her 2005 album Aerial was her first release for 12 years and her reappearances in public have been sporadic.

Last year she was awarded a CBE for her services to music.

The run of gigs in the capital has given a boost for her records sales as 11 of Bush's albums have re-appeared in the top 100.

Sales figures from the Official Charts Company show that all nine studio albums and two compilations have been given a sales boost by the gigs.

Her greatest hits collection The Whole Story, which hit number one on its release in 1986, is currently number eight.